Phil Brown pleased to acquire Hendrie

Blues Manager Phil Brown was happy to tie down Stephen Hendrie on a two year deal with an option of a third at Southend United.

"I'm delighted to bring Stephen back to the Club, as soon as I heard he was being paid up by West Ham I jumped at the chance to bring him back here.

"I was well aware of his experience at Blackburn as I know Owen (Coyle) well and if I'm honest I tried to dissuade Stephen from going because I knew Blackburn already had a number of left backs."

A big pull for Stephen was how much he enjoyed his previous spell with the Sky Bet League One side after a short loan.

"Stephen would say so himself that the best experience he's had since leaving Scotland was for us when he played previously and there's not many better left footers than him.

"He can play in a number of positions on the left hand side, he's not just a left back, he can play left midfield, left wing back and even left sided centre back."

Bringing in someone like Stephen also provides healthy competition for the squad which Phil definitely wants this season.

"We've got a lot of competition down the left hand side with Macca, Woody, Coker & Timlin and that's what I want, I want a tight squad with everyone battling for positions & players who can play in a number of roles with have that advantage."

Bringing in someone ahead of pre-season is also something Phil has been working towards and believes it's essential for how the squad start the season.

"It's key to get players in now whilst pre-season is going ahead, last season we got the likes of Cox & Ferdinand late on and our start was inevitable as we didn't have the squad we wanted. This year if we get everyone in early from the start we have no excuses come August."